"The Recent History of Ownership Rights

There has been an effort in the U.S. in the last few years to pare back the protections of ownership rights, largely through the use of copyright law. Courts have interpreted copyright law to hold that owners of goods that are manufactured overseas do not have complete ownership rights...such as the right to re-sell them. Moreover, manufacturers have begun to use contracts to restrict the free movement of goods and the ability of legitimate purchasers to use their goods in legitimate ways. Many goods consumed in the U.S. are made overseas, and more and more goods are being subject to restrictive contracts.

Manufacturers will find it easiest to prosecute potential violators on the Internet because of the ease in identifying “illegal” actions. Thus, this is a very serious issue for Internet users."